No. 3 Indiana shrugs off No. 2 Michigan, takes control of Big Ten

Feb. 2, 2013
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Indiana's Cody Zeller (40) goes after a rebound with Michigan's Jon Horford (15) during the first half of the Big Ten matchup on Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. The Hoosiers won 81-73. / Doug McSchooler, AP

by Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

by Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

In a showdown between the top two teams in the Big Ten, No. 3 Indiana fed off a pulsating home crowd to fend off No. 2 Michigan 81-73 on Saturday night in a college hoops matinee.

It's the third time in school history the Hoosiers (20-2, 8-1 Big Ten) have beaten the No. 1 team at home, and it's the first time they've done it in back-to-back seasons. The win gives Indiana sole possession of the Big Ten lead and likely the No. 1 ranking it held for the first seven weeks this season.

"It was tremendous, the crowd had so much to do with it," said Indiana coach Tom Crean after the game on ESPN. "It was just a phenomenal crowd, great energy. We never trailed in the game.

"This was new business, but unfinished business from the way we played a year ago against Michigan. We needed to be much better defensively tonight. For the most part we were."

Cody Zeller finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Hoosiers, who came up clutch from the free-throw line in crunch time.

Victor Oladipo finished with 15 points, but his main duties were slowing down Michigan's Trey Burke, who finished with a game-high 25 points. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 for the Wolverines in the losing effort.

Indiana controlled the tempo from the tip, taking an early 20-7 lead and Michigan only tied it once after that.